Assisted stellar suicide in V617 Sagittarii

Context.V617 Sgr is a V Sagittae star – a group of binaries thought to be the galactic counterparts of the Compact Binary Supersoft X-ray Sources – CBSS. Aims.To check this hypothesis, we measured the time derivative of its orbital period. Methods.Observed timings of eclipse minima spanning over 30...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin) 2006-02, Vol.447 (2), p.L1-L4
Main Authors: Steiner, J. E., Oliveira, A. S., Cieslinski, D., Ricci, T. V.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astronomy
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
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Summary:Context.V617 Sgr is a V Sagittae star – a group of binaries thought to be the galactic counterparts of the Compact Binary Supersoft X-ray Sources – CBSS. Aims.To check this hypothesis, we measured the time derivative of its orbital period. Methods.Observed timings of eclipse minima spanning over 30 000 orbital cycles are presented. Results.We found that the orbital period evolves quite rapidly: $P/\dot{P} = 1.1\times10^{6}$ years. This is consistent with the idea that V617 Sgr is a wind driven accretion supersoft source. As the binary system evolves with a time-scale of about one million years, which is extremely short for a low mass evolved binary, it is likely that the system will soon end either by having its secondary completely evaporated or by the primary exploding as a supernova of type Ia. Conclusions.
ISSN:0004-6361
1432-0746
DOI:10.1051/0004-6361:200500227